Earthquake Shacks Prepared for Move to Treasure
Island

The original earthquake shacks on Kirkham Street
were readied for a move to Treasure Island.

By Woody LaBounty

On Aug. 10, volunteers from local companies prepared to move
four 1906 earthquake refugee shacks at 4329 Kirkham St., in
the Sunset District, to Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay.

Beginning at 10:30 a.m., Bluewater Services, Inc. abated
the shacks of lead and asbestos and union carpenters from
Mayta & Jensen began deconstruction of small, non-historic
additions.

The four shacks are among only 21 certified surviving structures
from the 5,610 camp cottages built to house 16,000 San Franciscans
in the months after the 1906 earthquake and fire.

In 2002, when the current owners applied for a permit to
demolish the historic structures, the Western Neighborhoods
Project, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the history of
the western side of San Francisco, began efforts to save the
shacks.

Working with the owners, District 4 Supervisor Fiona Ma and
representatives from the Treasure Island Authority, the Western
Neighborhoods Project arranged for space on Treasure Island
to be a temporary site for the cottages while a permanent
home is sought. Sheedy Crane and Sunset Scavenger also volunteered
to help with the effort and the shacks' current owners
are donating their demolition budget to the rehabilitation
efforts.

"For the first time in 98 years, the public will see
those park-bench-green redwood walls," said David Gallagher,
a member of the Western Neighborhoods Project. "It's
like opening a Christmas present."

The Western Neighborhoods Project plans to restore and relocate
the earthquake shacks to a permanent location by April 2006,
the centennial of San Francisco's great earthquake and
fire.

For more information, call (415) 759-6429
or go to the Western Neigborhoods Project's website
at www.outsidelands.org.